I was so jazzed to create sidewalk chalk art at Piedmont Hospital on Eagle’s Landing Blvd in Stockbridge, GA last week!
(Did you know you can commission me to come create a piece of chalk art for you? Contact me for details!)

I found out about this opportunity through Henry Arts Alliance; it was exciting to return to creating a chalk drawing because I haven’t done one since the last time we went to SCAD’s Sidewalk Arts Festival. It was also amazing to be able to share a heartfelt thank you with the front-line medical workers at the same time as I was making a kooky piece of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles art.

As I sketched ideas for my square and reminisced about the hijinks Josh and my SCAD buddies have embarked on over the years at Sidewalk Arts Festival, I started cracking up about jokes that never die. Don’t take this the wrong way – we all love, love, LOVE that festival. (Are you listening Paula Wallace LOL) But because it’s a yearly sidewalk chalk art celebration that’s happened every spring since the dawn of time in Savannah, there are elements and themes in the artwork that you will find every single year. I haven’t created a bingo card to take to Sidewalk Arts yet, but it’s on my to-do list right behind drink another cup of coffee and give Josh a high five for being rad.

So I decided to see if I could create a piece of sidewalk chalk art that contains as many of those recurring themes and elements as I possibly could. What followed were some pretty funny group chats with my SCAD buddies, more sketching, and carefully packing a teacup to bring to the hospital with me on drawing day.

Prepping for Sidewalk Chalk Art Day

Start soaking that chalk in tea!

Using Chalk as Paint and Recreating an Old Master’s Work

One thing you’ll see a ton of in sidewalk chalk art pieces during Sidewalk Arts Festival is recreations of paintings by old masters. I chose Leonardo’s Mona Lisa to be the guide for my background, because… Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

This also seemed like the perfect opportunity to use my sidewalk chalk as paint! At first, I was shaving down a piece of chalk into a little tupperware, adding water, blending it up with a paintbrush, and then painting with that. But it took too long! So I started coloring directly onto the sidewalk with the chalk, and then used a wet paintbrush to blend and make it look nice and painterly.

A Plethora of Pinatas and (Recurring Themes) in Sidewalk Chalk Art

Manhole Covers and Looking Down into a Space

I showed up first the morning we created chalk art squares at Piedmont Hospital, so I had first pick of where I wanted to work. Most of the time, you’d try to avoid an area with a manhole cover in it but not this time! Manhole covers are always found at Sidewalk Arts Festival, so I have Michelangelo holding it with the opening down into the sewer behind him.

Thanks to my buddy Brian Sikorski, who’s super active with the Orlando Fringe Festival, for that one!

Sidewalk Chalk Art Water and Koi Ponds

These were Brian’s ideas too – so I fit them both into the sewer! I’m serious – next Sidewalk Arts Festival, bring this list with you and use it as a scavenger hunt! Can you find a chalk art square with water in it? Now look for a koi pond!

Forced Perspective and a Cliff with Someone Holding On

This was a tricky one, and I struggled for a bit with how to work these themes into my sidewalk chalk art. I originally only had one ninja turtle in my sketch! Then I decided that adding a second turtle trying to climb out of the sewer solved this and one more problem easily! How else could I add this next difficult theme, in a way that gets its point across to those who know, while still being friendly and accessible to the broader audience that doesn’t know what the reference is really about?

Commentary on Art School Politics

Isn’t it funny that that’s a recurring theme at Sidewalk Arts Festival? As I was sketching, I thought there was no way I could work this in. I’m not in the know of current art school politics, just vintage ones because I’m an old lady LOL. BUT I do remember the Room 4 Two flyer campaign from when I was at SCAD in the mid 90s. There was a huge brouhaha over another art school coming to Savannah, and SCAD was not going to let that happen. So art kids all over were putting up plain white sheets of paper with Room 4 Two on them to remind everyone that Savannah’s a big city, and maybe two art schools could exist there.

Update on that drama: SCAD is still in Savannah. SVA isn’t.

Two More Sidewalk Chalk Art Elements

And there you have it!

I set out to create a piece of art that would be fun and uplifting for hospital workers, while being a private homage to some of my dearest friends and the hijinks we end up getting into when we’re all together. Is it the most technically perfect thing I’ve ever created? Probably not. But I had a great time drawing it and rain’s probably washed away all the problem spots by now so who cares?

Thank you hospital workers and thank you Henry County Alliance for allowing me to participate in this!